An elder law lawyer at Frank & Kraft can offer you assistance in preparing for what could happen if you get very sick or if you sustain an injury. There are unfortunately, many tragic situations where an illness or an injury could leave you unable to give consent to medical care that you may need to sustain your life. For example, if you suffer a stroke or if you are involved in an auto accident and you sustain a brain injury, you may be unable to talk with your doctors about treatment options and unable to express a preference on the kinds of care you do and don’t want to receive.
There is nothing more personal than the decisions you must make on the care that you want, or don’t want, after a serious medical emergency. You owe it to yourself and you owe it to your family to make as many decisions in advance as possible on medical care – and to make certain that you have expressed your preferences on care in an enforceable way.
This can be especially important if you know that you do not want extraordinary measures used to save or extend your life. An elder law lawyer at Frank & Kraft will assist you in using legal tools to take control over your medical care, even in future situations where you cannot express your wishes due to your condition. Give us a call today to put plans in place to control the care that you receive and to make sure that you don’t end up getting unwanted care.
How to Avoid Unwanted Medical Care
If you want to avoid unwanted medical care, it is best to create advanced directives for healthcare. For example, a Do Not Resuscitate order could be put in place to indicate you don’t want extraordinary measures like CRP to be utilized to prolong your life. You could also make use of a living will, which allows you to be more specific about the kinds of care you want to undergo and the kinds of care you want to decline under specific circumstances.
You can also name a healthcare proxy, which would give you the chance to select a person who will make medical decisions not otherwise addressed in an advanced directive. A person who you designate as your proxy who will make medical decisions for you should have a fiduciary duty to act in your best interests.
If you have made an incapacity plan in advance, you can choose the person who will act as your proxy, which can allow you to avoid court action that could become necessary if it is not clear who has authority to act on your behalf. You can discuss with your chosen healthcare proxy what your preferences are so the person who acts for you will have a fairly clear idea of what your wishes are.
Making your plans with help from an elder law lawyer has obvious benefits for you, since you will be at far less risk of someone making a decision to give doctors consent to provide care that you would not have wanted to receive. It also benefits your loved ones, who won’t have to worry about going to court and who won’t have to feel guilt over making a decision to refuse care or to “pull-the-plug” and allow you to pass away if you’re in a situation where medical tools like a ventilator or feeding tube are keeping you alive. Since it is best for you and your family for you to have a plan, you should create one today before it is too late.
Getting Help from An Indianapolis Elder Law Lawyer
If you don’t want to have your life prolonged by aggressive medical interventions in certain circumstances where you would have diminished quality of life, you should take action today. You never know when you could develop a serious illness, suffer a major injury or experience any medical emergency that makes you unable to express your preferences for care. If you have no plans in place in advance of an emergency, it’s bad for both you and your family.
Frank & Kraft will help you to make effective use of appropriate legal tools to control the medical care that you receive. Join us for a free seminar to find out more about how advanced directives work to allow you control over healthcare issues even in the event of incapacity. You can also give us a call at 317-684-1100 or contact us online to get personalized one-on-one help from an Indianapolis elder law lawyer. Call now, because there aren’t ever any guarantees and you don’t want to be unprepared if something should happen that causes tough decisions to become necessary.
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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